Green coffee beans could help you get lean

How do you take your coffee? Black, cream and sugar, iced or frothed? How about green? If you’re trying to lose weight, it might be wise to try taking your daily cup of joe in the raw. That’s right — green, or unroasted coffee beans, could help you get beach-ready this summer.

A small study recently found that overweight men and women who took a green coffee beans supplement lost an average of 17 pounds, reduced their body weight by 10 percent and their body fat by 16 percent without exercising more or changing their diet otherwise. In fact, they maintained a diet of about twenty-four hundred calories a day … by no means a Hollywood diet. The slim-down study from the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania took place over a period of 22 weeks, and participants who took a higher dose of green coffee bean supplements lost even more weight.

Scientists think it has something to do with chlorogenic (klor-uh-GEN-ick) acid, a plant compound in coffee beans that breaks down when the beans are roasted. The chemical could also help the body absorb glucose and reduce weight.

So better to sip good old fashioned roasted java until the findings are confirmed with further studies. Coffee in moderate doses has been praised as a health food for its high amount of cancer-fighting antioxidants and ability to ward off Alzheimer’s disease. In fact, one study found that the darker the roast, the more antioxidants coffee boasts.

But either way you roast it, coffee can not only give you a jolt of energy in the morning but also serve up some substantial health benefits. So feel free to drink to your health and indulge in another cup.